


Keep 'Em Flying

by psalmoflife



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Get Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-31
Updated: 2013-10-31
Packaged: 2017-12-31 01:03:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1025494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psalmoflife/pseuds/psalmoflife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Darcy joked that she would trade a date for an autograph from her favorite author, she hadn't expected anyone to take her seriously.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Keep 'Em Flying

**Author's Note:**

  * For [puffabilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puffabilly/gifts).



> The lovely puffabilly got to meet Kelly Sue DeConnick and sent me a signed Captain Marvel- and then wouldn't let me send her any money to cover the cost of the book or shipping. So I wrote something instead. 
> 
> The characters talk about reading comics, and Clint talks about reading Hawkeye. I sort of hand-waved on the fact that he presumably has the same name/nickname as the main character.

“Holy shit!” Darcy blurted out, promptly followed by clapping her hand over her mouth. 

Mr. Coulson, her history teacher, sighed. “Something to share with the class, Miss Lewis?” 

“No,” Darcy said meekly. “No, sir. Thought I saw a mouse. Sorry.” 

Coulson clearly didn't believe her, but since she had managed to quickly hide her phone, he didn't really have reason to push the matter further. “As I was saying, the Yalta Conference had serious implications for post-war Europe…” 

Darcy usually enjoyed Mr. Coulson's class, and was good at history, but she didn't even attempt to pay attention for the rest of the class, drawing the attention of her best friend, Jane Foster, who cornered Darcy once they got to their usual lunch table. 

“Darce, what the hell? Are you trying to get yourself detention?” 

“Obviously not, who wants detention? I was looking at the updates for the con this weekend, and Kelly Sue DeConnick is going to be there! That is worthy of some excitement, Jane!” 

“That is pretty awesome,” Jane agreed, sliding over to make room for Thor on their bench. “But your mom still isn't going to let you miss your cousin’s wedding. You’ll have to meet her another time.”

“Yeah, I know.” Most of the joy had gone out of Darcy’s voice. “But maybe someone else will get her to sign something for me? Seriously, I would hand over my first-born child.” 

“Why not simply offer a date?” Thor suggested. 

“Offering dates? What?” Of course Tony would clue in to the conversation once the possibility of dates got introduced. 

“One of my favorite authors is going to be at the con this weekend, but I can’t go because my cousin is getting married,” Darcy explained. “Thor thinks I should offer up a date in exchange for an autograph.” 

Tony laughed. “It’s not the worst idea I've ever heard. You’d have to find someone who wants to date you, though.” 

“Hey!” Darcy protested. “There are _plenty_ of guys that want to date me, okay? I just need to… find them.” 

\---

Darcy spent the remaining days leading up to the con canvassing her circle of acquaintances, trying to figure out who was going to the con and would be willing to stand in line for a while. Unfortunately passes had sold out really quickly, and it seemed like everyone was skipping the signing periods in favor of queuing up for the big panels. 

She used half of a math class debating playing sick to skip the wedding, but was too consumed by guilt to try. (Plus, her mom figured everything out eventually, and would have grounded Darcy for the rest of her life.)

So Darcy resigned herself to going to the con next year, and a possible road-trip if Kelly Sue wasn't coming back, and tried not to spend the entire wedding thinking about punching holes in the sky.

\---

“Darcy- be the star you were always meant to be.” 

Darcy stared down at the comic book in her hands, protected by a bag and held straight with a board. It was a first edition Captain Marvel #1, personalized and signed by Kelly Sue DeConnick. Underneath it was a signed first edition of the first issue of Pretty Deadly. 

Darcy didn't realize that there were tears forming in her eyes until Jane appeared at her side and exclaimed, “What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, everything’s perfect.” Darcy quickly scrubbed the heel of her hand over her eyes. “Someone got me these signatures at the con, and somehow got them into my locker. I’m just really happy.” 

“Huh,” Jane said. “Any idea who?”

“There’s no note. I want to figure out who it was, though. They deserve a thank you.”

\---

Thor passed Darcy a note at lunch, written on a torn-out piece of notebook paper that had been folded into a football. “No thanks required,” it said, “but I’ll be on the top of the bleachers after school.” It wasn't signed.

“Who gave this to you?” Darcy demanded. 

“I promised not to say.”

“I think you should go,” Jane said. “It’s a public place. Plus, someone who would do something this nice for you would probably make a great friend.” 

\---

Darcy had expected that the person on the top of the bleachers would be a total stranger, so she was surprised to realize that she sort of knew the kid- not enough to know his name, but enough to know that he was new to the school, best friends with Natasha Romanov and Bucky Barnes, and was on the archery team. 

“Hey,” she said softly, ducking her face a bit to hide her sudden blush. “I, um, really do want to thank you for getting those books for me. That was really sweet.” 

“You’re welcome.” His smile was a little shy, but very endearing, she decided. “I kind of overheard your conversation at lunch last week, and I get that little things can seem really important. Plus, I wanted to meet Fraction.” 

“You read Hawkeye?” Darcy slid down the bench, pressing hip-to-hip with the boy to look at the familiar white-and-purple cover he pulled out of his bag. 

“Yeah. My, um, my foster brother works at the comic shop and he got me into it, because of the archery.”

“That’s really cool. I’m completely useless at anything athletic, but it’s fun to read about.” 

There was a pause, and the boy said, “I could show you sometime?” 

Darcy flushed again, then said, “This is going to sound terrible, but I don’t know your name.” 

The boy laughed, snorting a bit through his nose. “Clint. My name’s Clint Barton.” 

“I’m Darcy.”

Clint gave her an ‘I know’ sort of look, but shook her hand anyway. “Want to go get slurpees, or something?” 

Darcy carefully slid her books back into her bag, and took Clint’s hand when he offered it, letting him help her down the metal steps. She hadn't _really_ intended to trade a date for an autograph, but if that’s how things worked out… well, she definitely wasn't going to complain.


End file.
